We were having dinner with friends who came over at our house and I was also having a bout of bad colds so I was not able to get to the market open. It’s a good thing that I already planned this sort of holiday schedule last week, before Christmas. When many people are off for holidays or know before hand that there’s going to be some distractions. (Like Year-End Sales and all the food!) So there it was, my go-to strategy the Covered Call made me some nifty profits while I am having time off, time value is also expiring on the option . It’s a fantastic strategy, not too demanding on your time, gives you risk management because you profit when the stock goes down…best time to close it out (with a buy transactions) is when the stock price is recovering.
The day started off slow but as the day progressed stocks shook off its worries and headed for the heavens! This year-end rally started early and I am looking to 2 more days of continued move by bargain hunters in this unseasonably warm winter in the Northern Hemisphere. So if you are trying to get into some bargains now is the time! Next week is already New Year and you know how many people try and start off afresh that time of the year, for us my dear investors, we can jump ahead and get in now. Most investors were buying Energy stocks the last few days, which is understandable as oil is really at terrible lows, but not to rain on the oil party I think it’s temporary with the supply and demand picture looking much as it did for 2015 — maybe even worse with Iran supply coming into the world market.
Technology led the charge as yes, it’s all about the future with 2016 coming in. As of now, I am personally having mixed feelings. Like when we take pictures, the phone software already recognizes the people in the picture and can actually send it for you with one click. There is intelligent life on Earth, yes there is. How much more intelligent? Driverless cars, drone delivery, robots… are we all going to see these “in-store” in 2016? If you think there will be more and more buyers and users of these technology then now is a good time to buy and get in position. There’s AMZN using this drone delivery and their stock has also been on a tear due to the shopping-happy consumer. So it’s looking like the best bets for consumer products like Nike (which just became more affordable by the way!), and high-dividend paying Procter and Gamble, Unilever. Among really undervalued stocks I got my eyes on AAPL, JP Morgan, Citibank, Wells Fargo (these banks pay high dividends also) plus they stand to benefit with rising interest rates.
So enjoy the sales in the shops and stocks.
Happy bargain-hunting!
